News, notes and reader questions about the San Francisco 49ers

September 8, 2008

******UPDATE at 2:20 p.m. ****** Martin is flying in for a physical tomorrow, according to his agent. Given Martin's background in Mike Martz's offense, he will not be asked to work out for the 49ers. There's a strong chance he'll sign tomorrow.

As the 49ers begin searching for a backup quarterback today, one of the names on their list is Jamie Martin. Mike Nolan on Sunday said the list of candidates includes both young and older quarterbacks. Martin falls into the latter category.

He entered the league with the Rams in 1993 when they still played in Los Angeles. What is most intriguing to the 49ers is Martin's background with Mike Martz, which began in 1997 when both were with the Redskins. He also spent four seasons under Martz in St. Louis, filling in as the starting quarterback for two games in 2002 and five games in 2005 when Marc Bulger got hurt.

In 2002, Martin connected on 124 of 195 passes for 1,216 yards, seven TDs, 10 INTS and was sacked 10 times. He was 124 of 177 in 2005 for 1,277 yards, five TDs, seven INTS and was sacked 11 times. He most recently had been Drew Brees' backup in New Orleans.

MATTHEW BARROWS

Matt was born in Blacksburg, Va., and attended the University of Virginia. He graduated in 1995, went to Northwestern for a journalism degree a year later, and got his first job at a South Carolina daily in 1997. He joined The Bee as a Metro reporter in 1999 and started covering the 49ers in 2003. His favorite player of all time is Darrell Green.